The visitors' build-up to the game had been overshadowed by the imminent departure of Yohan Cabaye, who is poised to join Ligue 1 leaders Paris Saint-Germain.
However, that appeared to be of little distraction to Alan Pardew's men, who dominated proceedings without finding a way past Norwich goalkeeper John Ruddy.
Ruddy had to be alert again to prevent Sebastien Bassong from slicing into his own net soon after, before Johnson turned Remy's cross against his own post.
Luck continued to desert Pardew's men as their flurry of chances continued, Remy seeing a magnificent 24th-minute effort hit the post before Ruddy denied Ben Arfa with a strong stop.
Norwich did manage to gain something of a foothold in the game as the first period wore on, but should have been behind just before the break, only for Ben Arfa's lack of composure from Sammy Ameobi’s pull-back to let them off the hook.
It was an ill-tempered end to the game as Johnson and Remy each saw the red for their part in a scuffle, meaning the QPR loanee will miss Newcastle's Tyne-Wear derby with Sunderland on Saturday.
Despite their dominance, the visitors had keeper Tim Krul to thank for preserving a point as he kept out Robert Snodgrass’ point-blank header with a superb reflex save.
